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nordicsymphony · 7 years ago

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A Bouquet of Sacred Flowers for a Brave Hero: A Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru intro post

So apparently this fandom is really small here and I feel that I want to change that. I mean, there are very few post-Madoka Magica Magical Girl series that manage to become their own person. So here’s a rundown on a series called Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru.

The whole series in general takes place several years after 2015 when a mysterious and deadly virus wipes out all of humanity except for the island of Shikoku, which is protected by a tree called the Shinju (referred to as Shinju-sama). All instalments are part Magical Girl Warrior, part Slice-of-Life which gives character development to each cast member.

The various major instalments are under Read More (and are referred to by their abbreviations from here on):

(Warning: this isn’t exactly spoiler-free, but I’ll do my best to keep the major ones under wraps!)

1. Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru (Yuki Yuna is a Hero/YuYuYu)

Originally aired during the Fall 2014 season, YuYuYu takes place 300 years after most of the world suffers from an apocalypse in 2015. The series follows Yuna Yuki, her handicapped best friend Mimori Togo, sisters Fu and Itsuki Inubouzaki and transfer student Karin Miyoshi as part of their school’s Hero Club, of which Fu is the Club Leader. Club activities range from helping out the community at large to being government-hired Magical Girls called Heroes (Yuusha) whose task is to protect literally their whole world from the Vertexes - the same viruses that caused said near extinction.

This 12-Episode series was subbed by Crunchyroll then, so you can find it pretty easily. Additionally, Season 2 (which I’ll get to later) has a recap episode before its actual start which was narrated by Togo.

2. Washio Sumi wa Yuusha de aru (Washio Sumi is a Hero/WaSuYu)/Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru Season 2: Washio Sumi no Shou (Washio Sumi Chapter/Arc)

A Light Novel series that ran from April to November 2014, this series takes place 2 years before the events of YuYuYu. In this case, we follow Sumi Washio, Sonoko Nogi and Gin Minowa as the government-hired Magical Girls tasked to deal with the Vertexes, all the while enjoying life as 6th-Grade Elementary school kids.

This series was announced last year in October to be adapted into anime form - as a movie trilogy in March, April and July for each movie and said trilogy then became the 1st half of YuYuYu’s Season 2 which started last October. If you can find the fansubs, watch those instead - Amazon unfortunately didn’t do such a good job there.

This series has 4 Bonus Chapters:

Silver-coloured Memories - a focus chapter for Gin Minowa as she enlists the help of Sumi and Sonoko to find a birthday gift for one of her younger brothers.

Sonoko In Reminiscence - takes place after WaSuYu with Sonoko dreaming about the past.

WaSuYu Bonus Chapter - takes place between YuYuYu Episodes 8 - 10.

Sonoko After - takes place after YuYuYu, ties both series together.

3. Nogi Wakaba wa Yuusha de aru (Nogi Wakaba wa Yuusha de aru/NoWaYu)

Another Light Novel series that was serialized in 2015, this series takes place 300 years before YuYuYu and 298 before WaSuYu, depicting the 1st Vertex Invasion as well as the 1st Hero Team of Shikoku Island that fought them, the leader of which, Wakaba Nogi, is Sonoko’s ancestor.

If Season 2 of YuYuYu is successful we might get an anime adaptation of this one - Wakaba and co. made cameo appearances in the S2 Opening Sequence.

This Series has 3 Bonus Chapters:

The Second Hero Diary - taking place in the YuYuYu timeline post-anime, The Hero Club find a mysterious book while helping Sonoko sort out historical records that she requested to be sent to her home.

Shiratori Utano wa Yuusha de aru (Shiratori Utano is a Hero/ShiUYu) - a bonus chapter taking place during the NoWaYu timeline at Lake Suwa focusing on Utano Shiratori and her Miko, Mito Fujimori as the sole protectors of Nagano Prefecture.

The Passed Baton - Taking place after the events of NoWaYu, Wakaba and Hinata plan their next steps in leading the remains of humanity to a better future post-Vertex Invasion.

4. Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru: Hanayui no Kirameki (Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Brilliant Bouquet/Bouquet of Brilliance/YuYuYui)

A mobile tower defense-esque game released June this year, Hinata Uesato from NoWaYu summons every Hero across the franchise to a world within the Shinju in order to quell a division between the gods that make up said tree itself. The game not only has new scenarios, it also introduces 2 new heroes from the NoWaYu/ShiUYu era - Sekka Akihara from Hokkaido and Natsume Kohagura from Okinawa.

5. Kusunoki Mebuki wa Yuusha de aru (Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero/KuMeYu)

An interquel Light Novel which recently ended serialzation (bonus chapter out next year), the Taisha (the Shikoku Island government) summons 32 girls, all of which are unsuccessful Hero Candidates to the Golden Tower (Taisha HQ). There, they are tasked to be Sentinels to carry out investigations outside Shikoku. One of these girls (also their leader) is Mebuki Kusunoki, a former Hero Candidate who took part in an examination to inherit an old Hero Terminal only to be beaten by Karin. They have recently announced to get a Drama CD.

6. Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru Season 2: Washio Sumi no Shou/Yuusha no Shou (Yuki Yuna is a Hero Season 2: Washio Sumi Chapter/Hero Chapter)

And here we are right now. Announced in October last year, Season 2 carries on from the 2014 series and started airing 2 months ago. The 1st half is Washio Sumi Chapter (Washio Sumi no Shou), an anime adaptation of WaSuYu. After a recap episode of Season 1, the story continues with Hero Chapter (Yuusha no Shou) where everything’s fine and dandy at the Hero Club until they realize that for some reason, Togo has disappeared from existence. To find her, they have to transform into Heroes again.

There’s also some visual novels, manga and a PS Vita game, as well as a tourism campaign in Kanonji City in Kagawa Prefecture for the anime (though not to the extent of Karatsu in Saga...). Pros of this series is good character development, beautiful OST and clever use of symbolism (Japanese History, Mythology and flower language (Hanakotoba)), but world building is slow (they never explained what happened to the rest of the world except for ‘everything was gone’) and things get really depressing at the 2nd half of each series to the point that the waterworks are worse than Evangelion. You’ve been warned.

Here’s the pastebin for the whole series, for those interested. Overall, it’s an engaging series, but bring tissues just in case.

#Nanami Says #Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru #Washio Sumi wa Yuusha de aru #Nogi Wakaba wa Yuusha de aru #Shiratori Utano wa Yuusha de aru #Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru: Hanayui no Kirameki #Kusunoki Mebuki wa Yuusha de aru

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nordicsymphony · 7 years ago

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Alternatives to Magia Record

So you’ve been hyping up and waiting for Puella Magi Madoka Magica Gaiden: Magia Record to drop, and finally you managed to get your hands on it via QooApp. Unfortunately, a week into playing the game the developers decided that everyone who got their hands on it via APK are no longer able to access the game - if you want it, your only option is either the Apple Store or Google Play. And you know full well that the game isn’t available internationally. And while VPN might help if your phone was compatible in the first place (mine wasn’t), the other option available, Android Debug Bridge might pose some risks to your phone. Dejectedly, you uninstalled the game possibly for the rest of your phone’s life and wait for an international release (if there ever will be).

BUT there are mobile games based on other Magical Girl series out there! They may not have similar gameplay to Magia Record (The closest would be Fate: Grand Order), but if you loved these series as well you might just be able to enjoy them just as much. And they don’t have that irritating restriction.

More under the cut!

Alt. 1) Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru: Hanayui no Kirameki (Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Brilliant Bouquet)

This game was released in May and features every Hero in the franchise’s run. (with the exception of the newly released Kusunoki Mebuki wa Yuusha de aru) It features a new plot where the Hero Club post-anime is summoned by Hinata Uesato from NoWaYu to within the Shinju-sama for a special mission - there’s internal conflict between the gods who make up the Shinju-sama and the Heroes are needed to get both factions to reconcile before the tree falls apart. They are later joined by the Heroes from WaSuYu, NoWaYu, ShiUYu and two game exclusive Heroes from the NoWaYu timeline - Sekka Akihara from Hokkaido and Natsume Kohagura from Okinawa. Aside from the game’s plotline, you get to relive the 4 existing stories in the franchise:

Yuki Yuna’s Chapter: the whole anime + Sonoko After

Washio Sumi’s Chapter: the first 3 chapters of its Light Novel

Nogi Wakaba’s Chapter: up to chapter 8/9 of its Light Novel

Shiratori Utano’s Chapter: almost everything

The gameplay is similar to a tower-defense game: players move around a Hero (or a pair of Heroes - each team has 3 Heroes, each of them having 1 assistant Hero and up to 2 fairies) across the board to fend off incoming Vertexes. Vertexes come in from your left while Heroes are on the right - if either 3 Vertexes or the boss Vertex gets to the right side of the board where the Shinju-sama is, it’s game over. You get a reward for clearing the level, with additional rewards if everyone lives and if you complete the level within a certain time. There are also bonus rewards for clearing a scene within the Chapter, and another if every level in the scene has 3 stars.

Drop rate is decent enough - there are 2 Gachas for friend points (fairies and the occasional Hero - if the Shinju-sama really likes you you can get a SR Hero in this one) and Shinju’s Blessings (premium currency - gives you Heroes up to SSR. I suggest saving up to do a 10-roll. If Yuna Yuki shows up it means that you have at least a new (S)SR - if Togo shows up with her it means that every card in the roll is new, but take this bit with a grain of salt). But don’t get your high hopes up too much. Additionally, there are Hero Medals which is used to either buy stuff from the store or upgrade your Hero System (do this first before spending the rest in the store) and doing certain missions gets you Botamochi to regain energy to play longer.

Gameplay itself is challenging as you need to figure out which Heroes and Fairies go best with each other, taking into mind the level’s element and Hinata’s Oracle. And then there are a few occasions where the speed criteria is unfulfillable or if a particularly pesky Vertex manages to KO one of your Heroes at the start. But if 2 Heroes have a high enough relationship via you putting them together more, the cost needed for them to work together again will be lower, allowing you to equip fairies with a higher cost.

Overall, a fun and challenging game, but there are spoilers all over the place (particularly with the WaSuYu team and a certain newbie to the YuYuYu team) so catch up with the franchise first.

Alt. 2) Precure Tsunagarun Puzzlun (Precure Connecting Puzzle)

Released sometime in late February to early March, this puzzle game features every Precure in the franchise (well, most of it. At launch you get to choose between Max Heart, Go Princess and Mahou Tsukai, with Kira Kira a la Mode, Heartcatch, Smile and recently Doki Doki joining in. It’ll have everyone. Eventually.) tasked to defeat bad guys and restore various magical lands back together with guidance from Mofurun.

Gameplay is a lot simpler than Hanayui no Kirameki - playing as a single Cure, you have to link at least 3 puzzle pieces to deal damage to monsters, obtaining power-ups and getting rid of/bypassing obstacles along the way. You win if the boss’s health bar reaches 0 and lose if yours reaches 0 instead. The circle with your Cure’s portrait lets you use their special move when you fill it up enough. The more difficult part of the game are Cure Challenges - using certain Cures to complete certain missions gets you an exclusive card. Each character also comes in 7 different colours - the more colours per level the more difficult it is to make larger chains.

As for drop rate... ... apparently, the more characters there are, the less likely you’ll get a certain card of your fancy. Character selection is also severely imbalanced, with every team having at least 1 Pink while your only Cure available for the White team (for now) is Cure White, which makes daily training during weekends a bit of a pain. Once in a while, for certain events, there will be 2 Gachas - a regular Gacha and a limited time Gacha focusing on a certain team. Again, save your premium currency Gems for a 10-roll/limited Gacha.

There will be a chance that you’ll get bored easily, but the developers do try their best to get you playing at least once per day. At least there’s no spoiler warning unless you joined the team halfway through its run or sequel. I’d still watch a few episodes first beforehand.

Alt. 3) Senki Zesshou Symphogear X-Drive Unlimited

Like the first 2, this game has every Symphogear user throughout the franchise run, including older versions of the characters, retired ones and dead ones. Unfortunately, I can’t provide more info for this since I don’t play the game, but I do know people on Facebook who are die-hard players.

Aside from reliving every season in the franchise, there are other events exclusive to the game such as Senki Zesshou Symphogear 3.5 (connects the 3rd season and 4th season) as well as alternate universes where certain things happened in one way or another, usually travelling via the Gjallarhorn Relic.

I’m not sure how the drop rate is like, but think of it as between Tsunagarun Puzzlun and Hanayui no Kirameki. As for gameplay, you take a team of 3 Symphogears and fight in real-time to the music from the series you choose from your music box.

Spoilers for the whole series abound, so watch everything first.

There are others out there, but ultimately it depends on what you’ve watched and whether you truly enjoyed it. Hopefully Magia Record gets localised for international users, since this has happened to other games under Aniplex from what I hear.

#Nanami Says #Puella Magi Madoka Magica #Puella Magi Madoka Magica Gaiden: Magia Record #Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru #Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de aru: Hanayui no Kirameki #Precure #Precure Tsunagarun Puzzlun #Senki Zesshou Symphogear #Senki Zesshou Symphogear XD Unlimited #way to kill off the international players and several local ones #it was fun while it lasted

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